


Some Sunny Day

by Fablegate



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Amnesiac Bill Cipher, Gen, Gravity Falls AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6123286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fablegate/pseuds/Fablegate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year has passed in sunny Gravity Falls, Oregon. The Stan's are still exploring the Arctic Ocean while the Mystery Shack in under new management (as well as newly added employees). The Pine Twins have returned for another summer. Though, this one may just beat their last vacation as they reunite with old friends, frenemies (you know the ones). But with every great story comes struggle as Dipper and Mabel will soon find out as they must now take care of, and hide, their greatest (now amnesiac) enemy in the attic. But, hey, everyone deserves a second chance right? </p><p>Will the Pines twins be able to hide their new secret? (meh, probably not)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go.

_"We’ll meet again_  
_Don’t know where_  
_Don’t know when_  
_Oh I know we’ll meet again_  
_Some sunny day."_

 

Ford awoke with a start. His head bobbed up from it’s resting place which had been the steering wheel. He must have dozed off. Had that weird dream again. Ford didn’t dream as much as he used to, but, when he did, he could barely remember or make sense of it. His dreams were becoming more like dreams, which he more than welcomed.

  
He yawned, stretched, and rolled up a sleeve to check the time. Oh good, he was only out for a few minutes, no need to worry about drifting off course. Even if he had, he would have Stanley, who decided to be lookout, to warn him.

  
Though, speaking of Stanley…

  
With the press of a few buttons, the steering was set to auto. Ford took a step out onto the deck of the Stan ‘O’ War II. A thick fog covered the water. The air was getting colder as well. They were getting close.

  
A sudden noise echoed across the water. A terrible rumbling noise that made your skin crawl. It came from the opposite side of the boat from where he stood. Ford, by instinct, reached for the laser gun he kept holstered to his belt. He stepped lightly, being sure not to make the wood beneath his feet creak as he flattened himself against the wall of the bridge. He made his way slowly, peeking out from the corner. At the edge of the boat a shadowy figure leaned over the edge. To Ford’s disdain, the fog had become thicker making the figure difficult to make out.

  
He walked, ever so carefully, closer. The noise seemed to get louder and louder. Ford had his gun halfway out of it’s holster and-

  
It was Stanley.

  
Ford had forgotten how loud the knuckle head could snore. And to think Ford was almost ready to shoot his own brother.

  
Well wouldn’t have been the first time.

  
…

  
Better not to dwell on that.

  
Of course that didn’t stop Ford from smacking his twin brother upside the head. Stanley woke with a start, much like Ford had, only he managed to bang his head against the railing as his head bobbed up.

  
“No Duchess, don’t marry count Lionel! He already had his chance!” Stanley yelled as he rose into a fighting/panicked stance. Ford didn’t say or do anything, but simply stare in confusion as his brother slowly came back to reality. As he did, he slowly turned his head to look at Ford.

  
“You heard nothing.”

  
Ford rolled his eyes. “Some lookout you turned out to be.”

  
Stan was quick to defend himself, even putting a hand to his chest as he spoke. “Hey! I am a great lookout! Notice how we haven’t hit anything?”

  
“Yet.” Ford added, with a smile.

  
Upon seeing his brother smile, Stan smiled back. Though he may never say it, he missed this. Just him and his brother, the Kings of New Jersey back in action.

  
“So, how much more north do we go now?” Stan said, suddenly remembering the cold and how he didn’t like it. “I’m starting to freeze in places I shouldn’t.”

  
“First off: Ew. Secondly: by my calculations,” Ford rolled up his sleeve and pressed a small button on his watch. Stan watched in what was less than amazement as the small holographic orb of Earth popped up. It looked exactly the same as when Ford showed him the last eight-thousand times. “We should be getting close now. But it won’t be easy to locate-“

  
“Could’a fooled me.” Stan said sarcastically.

  
“In a place like this, what we’re looking for will probably be below sea-level. Maybe on the ocean floor or even within a glacier. It may take us a very long time to-“ Ford was cut off as the Stan ’O’ War II suddenly bucked. Both brothers were thrown to the deck as the boat hit something. And that something was **big**. Big enough to where you could tell what it was even in the thickest fog.

  
Stan was the first to recover and was surprisingly quick to get a look at what they hit.

  
“How’s about we start with that?” He asked as Ford stood up and joined his gaping at the enormous glacier that blocked their path.

  
“It’s certainly a start.” Ford said.

  
They didn’t say anything as they both took a moment to take in the sight. Neither of them had ever been this close to a glacier before, not even Ford.

  
“…Notice how we’ve hit something, Stanley?” Ford finally said.

  
It was Stan’s turn to smack his brother on the head. Though, little good it did with the metal plating, which led to Stan hurting his hand, which then led to Stan cursing.

  
Good thing the kids weren’t here. Stan had decided that at the start of their adventure that he would stop censoring himself. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old enemy-turned-friends become new employees.

_"So will you please say hello_  
_To the folks that I know_  
_Tell them I won't be long_  
_They'll be happy to know_  
_That as you saw me go_  
_I was singing this song"_

 

The bus ride wasn’t much different then their last one(minus that one of being run down by a giant Gideon-bot)

  
Mabel took a window seat, hoping up and down excitedly with Waddles hanging contentedly in her arms. Lucky for her, they had the same bus driver as last year so when Waddles came onto the bus, he made no objection. Dipper didn’t think it’d be possible for a pig to grow as fast as Waddles did. Yet there he was, while he may not have grown much in height Waddles made up for it in that you couldn’t walk through a doorway side-by-side with the pig. Mabel, all the while, didn’t seem to mind. Waddles’ increase in weight only made him cuter and more huggable. It took a while but their parents warmed up to Waddles (because you really couldn’t say no to that face no matter how many times it brought mud into the house).

  
The twins had grown a lot since last summer, though their style in clothing hadn’t changed as much(not drastically at least). Mabel still wore her sweaters, but this time over a tank-top and colored leggings that reached down to her shins to match. Dipper, while still wearing Wendy’s hat, had traded shorts for jeans and his blue vest for a jacket with rolled up sleeves.

  
While Mabel and Waddles looked excitedly out the window, Dipper was focused on the blue journal he was now writing in. Summer had finally started. While Great Uncle Ford’s journals were destroyed Dipper had spent a good portion of his school nights writing down what he remembered reading. Now that they were returning, it was going to make rewriting the journals a whole lot easier.

  
Probably.

  
“Ksh! HQ, this is Special Agent M reporting in with Special Agent P.” Dipper suddenly felt a large weight over his head that was no doubt Waddles being held up by Mabel. “HQ, we’re picking up some weird readings that have led us to believe there to be a HUGE DORK in the our area!” Dipper rolled his eyes and pushed Waddles away while Mabel laughed and slid into the seat next to him. “Come one, Dipper! We’re not even there yet and you already have your nose stuck in **another** journal.”

  
“Laugh all you want, sister.” He said showing Mabel some of the pages of his book. The first few pages were filled with creatures Mabel recognized from their adventures, others were ones from Dipper’s guide to the unexplained. “There still so much about Gravity Falls we still don’t know. But this summer I’m going to uncover all the secrets of Gravity Falls.”

  
Mabel took the book from him, and actually seemed to study it for a moment, only to slap a bright pink sticker with a yellow cat on the cover.

  
“There!” Mabel smiled showing off her handiwork. “Now it will look as pretty as it is dorky!”

  
Waddles seemed to oink in agreement as he began to chew on the corner. Dipper was quick to pull the book away but not before a small chunk of the cover’s corner was devoured by the pig. What little there was left of the corner was no stained with Waddles’ saliva.

  
“Pfft!” Mabel covered her mouth with the sleeve of her sweater to try and suppress her laughter. She failed and let out a explosion of laughter. Dipper, who had been trying to act mad, joined his twin sister and laughed as well.

  
“Yeah.” Dipper breathed as their laughter subsided. “It does look a lot better now, huh?”

  
“Definitely.” Mabel agreed. Something then caught her eye as Mabel almost jumped from her seat, flattening her brother against the back of his seat as she made her way to opposite side of the bus. Dipper followed her gaze and soon followed to see as the sight of a familiar water tower became visible over the tree line.

  
“Next stop; Gravity Falls.” The bus driver called.

  
“WE’RE HERE!!” Mabel squealed picking up Waddles and swinging him around.

  
The first to welcome them was Candy and Grenda. All three girls screamed as they all group hugged (well Candy and Mabel hugged, Grenda just sort of picked them both up and held them).

  
“It is so good to have you back, Mabel!” Candy said, while her clothes had hardly changed, her glasses had new frames with flower designs on the hinges and had cut her hair shoulder length.

  
“WE’VE MISSED YOU FOR-LIKE-EVER!” Grenda said, she wore a tank top with the same purple shorts and sneakers. Her hair was held back with a bright pink bow “I HAD TO KEEP PUNCHING MYSELF BEFORE YOU GOT HERE JUST SO I WOULDN’T CRY.”

  
“Oh you guys!” Mabel laughed. “I’ve missed you both so much!”

  
Dipper watched with a smile at the happy reunion until he suddenly felt his hat disappear from his head before it was replaced with another one.

  
“What’s up dorks?” Wendy said as she put her old hat back on. 

  
“Wendy!” Dipper’s smile widened as he adjusted his hat as well.. “It’s great to see you again!”

  
Wendy held up a fist to give him a fist bump. “You too, man. Gravity Falls wasn’t the same without you.” She patted Waddles on the head and gave Mabel a high five before gesturing to the Mystery Shack golf cart behind her."C'mon. Soos is waiting back at the Shack."

  
The twins both rode shotgun(both had grown last summer but they were still small enough to share the same seat), Grenda and Candy rode in back with Waddles while catching Mabel up on their school lives. Grenda was still seeing Marius von’whatshisface while she joined a boxing team at school. Candy, still single, had her hands full with both music and a personal project that she only disclosed as “world changing”.

  
Wendy, all the while, was still in high school but was starting to get into the lumberjack business with her father. Of course she still worked part time at the Mystery Shack with Soos and Melody as well as two new employees but she wouldn’t say who until they got there.

  
As they drove, the twins waved to the familiar townspeople(Lazy Susan, Mayer Tyler, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland, etc…). Soon, word spread that the Pines Twins were back. Just about everyone they passed waved and called out a welcome. They dropped Grenda and Candy off at Grenda's house after the girls planned to hang out the next week.

  
Waiting for them in front of the Mystery Shack was Soos, the new Mr. Mystery, all dressed up from the black suit to the red fez(though he still smelled of pizza). Melody, who now donned the handyman uniform, stood next to Soos smiling.  
The twins tackled the former handyman with a hug, more than happy to see him again.

  
“Thanks for letting us stay at the Mystery Shack, Soos.” Mabel said as they all parted from the hug.

  
“Are you kidding me?” Soos laughed as he opened the door for them. “I may live here now, but this place is as much your home as it is mine.”

  
“Believe it or not, he hasn’t even touched the attic room.” Melody said before adding. “Except to clean it of course.”

  
Mabel and Dipper were glad to hear it as they made their way upstairs to unpack. The attic was almost exactly as they left it, only it was a lot cleaner (all the mold from the previous summer was gone, even Mabel’s favorite)

  
They didn’t far into unpacking when they heard a loud crash downstairs.

  
“Cheese ‘n crackers! Look at the mess you’ve gone and made!!”

  
“Me?! It was your fault for not gluing the feet to the stand the right way!”

  
Dipper exchanged a confused look with Mabel. Neither of them waited to see what all the noise was about and made their way downstairs. The Mystery Shack was empty of any tourists, but the ruckus was coming from the museum. It was certainly a surprise as to what they found.

  
“Gideon?? Pacifica???” Both the twins spoke in unison as they watched their former enemies were fighting over what looked to be the lower half of a taxidermy bear glued to the head of a fake shark(pretty sure it was a poorly made Jaws knockoff). The “exotic” attraction was on the ground with wet glue on the base of it’s feet as well as on what had been the stand. Pacifica Northwest was standing atop a step latter staring down Lil’ Gideon Gleeful who stood on the ground with a glue bottle. When the two realized they had company, Pacifica frowned and crossed her arms over the most fashionable a work shirt could be. Gideon, still dressed in his baby blue suit, turned to the twins and smiled the moment he saw Mabel.

  
“Why if it isn’t Mabel and Dipper Pines!” Gideon said in what sounded like genuine and honest joy. “I must say it’s been far too long since I’ve seen ya’ll.” It’s true that the last time they saw Gideon, little ol’ him had sworn off evil-doing, but, with that said, Mabel was still a little wary of her ex.

  
Pacifica seemed to act less thrilled to see them. “It’s about time you losers showed up. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be working with this preppy-haired klutz?”

  
Gideon turned sharply at his coworker. “What did you say about my hair?!”

  
Dipper had to put a hand up to stop another argument from starting. “Wait. Wait. Wait a minute. You **both work** at the Mystery Shack?”

  
“And Pacifica’s wearing **work** clothes?!” Mabel pointed out in shock which only made Pacifica frown even more.

  
“Hey! I still look better than you.”

  
“You see,” Gideon began to explain. “I meant what I said ‘bout no more evil doin’ and such. And to makeup for my misdeeds I tried to do some work around town.” Gideon shuffled his feet in embarrassment. “Of course no one would hire me.” His embarrassment was soon replaced by optimistic cheer. “But, wouldn’t you know it? Mr. Ramirez was lookin’ to hire and was so kind as to offer me a job. But of course,” Gideon shot a glare at Pacifica. “He had failed the mention at the time that I’d be workin’ with this cretin.” Pacifica chose to ignore that remark.

  
“You wear a suit to work?” Dipper raised an eyebrow.

  
Gideon laughed. “Oh no, hon, this is my work suit; made out of light material that don’t stain easy.”

  
“You should see him on days when he wears a hairnet.” Pacifica sneered.

  
“Says the one who always comes to work incognito.” Gideon shot back.

  
“So wait.” Mabel turned to Pacifica. “Why are you working here, Pacifica?”

  
“Let’s make something clear before I explain anything.” Pacifica said pointedly. “I’m not working in this dumb shed because I want to. Got it?” After a brief nod from both twins Pacifica went on. “I’m only working here because my stupid dad had to go and lose almost all our money for investing in Weirdmagedon. So now I have to work just to keep my one pony.”

  
All three weren’t sure what to make of that last statement.

  
“Wow.” Dipper said flatly. “I can’t decide which of your stories are the saddest.”

  
“Oh you can laugh!” Gideon whined pointing dramatically at the fallen attraction. “But do you no how hard it is to keep up with the labor this job demands?!”

  
“Yeah!” Pacifica agreed with hands on hips. “While you two have been goofing off in California, I’ve been stuck here working in the sweaty old shack!”

  
Dipper and Mabel rolled their eyes.

  
“At leas they agree on **something**.” Dipper said.

  
Mabel smiled and gave him a light punch to the shoulder. “Ah, come on bro. Let’s show these two how it’s really done!”

  
For the next fifteen minutes Gideon and Pacifica watched in utter shock as the twins, with little to no effort, not only get the attraction secured to the stand but also make it look slightly better(Mabel always knew her pocket glitter would come in handy) By the time they were done Pacifica and Gideon both had their jaws hanging over (Pacifica in disbelief while Gideon was more enchanted).

  
“Ta-da!” Mabel sang waving her arms at the finished piece.

  
Dipper did the same as Mabel. “Not that difficult once you’ve done it enough times.”

  
“Quite remarkable.” Gideon said.

  
“What?! No it’s not.” Pacifica said, clearly distraught. She stomped right over to Mabel and jabbed a manicured nail at her. “Listen here, braces! There is no way I am loosing this job because you happen to be lucky at something. So you better-”

  
Mabel was quick to kill that fire as she gently pushed Pacifica’s accusing finger away. “Whoa! Relax, Pacifica, we’re not taking anyone’s job.”

  
“Yeah, last time we worked here it wasn’t like we ever got paid.” Dipper added in. “Besides we plan to have a **real** summer vacation this time.”

  
“Really?” It was Gideon who turned suspicious. “Just what are ya’ll plannin’ on in Gravity Falls?”

  
Mabel was about to speak only to have her mouth clamped shut by Dipper.

  
“It’s a secret surprise that is absolutely nothing!” He quickly stated. He let them try to make sense of the statement as he made his escape to the gift shop, pulling Mabel along with him.

  
“Why are we lying to them?” Mabel asked once they were out of earshot. “I thought you trusted Pacifica?”

  
“If it were just Pacifica, I’d be fine.” Dipper said. “I’m just not sure about Gideon just yet.”

  
“Whaaat?” Mabel frowned at that. “Dipper I’m sure you can trust Gideon if Soos was willing to hire him.”

  
“Would you be fine with being alone in a room with him?” Dipper countered.

  
Mabel went silent at that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no memory who dis

 

  
So, to recap.

  
Currently, he was stuck in a null-void floating with no physical form to tell what he looked like. That didn’t help in the fact he didn’t even know **who** he was either.

 

So yeah that’s pretty much it. You're all caught up.

 

“So stranger.” He said to himself. “You appear to be a floating consciousness in a white void with no memory of who you, where you’re from, or how you came to be here in the first place.”

 

He clapped his nonexistent hands.

 

“And! To top if all off, you haven’t a clue as to how to get out of here.”

 

Another impossible clap from nonexistent hands.

 

“Well, at least I’m able to clap sarcastically. And hey! With what little optimism I have, maybe someone will get me out of here. I wonder who? They’ll have to be pretty smart.”

  
He felt like he as going to be here a while.


	4. egaseM sdrawkcaB

_"Keep smiling through_

_Just like you always do_

  _‘Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds away"_

 

It would be a week before Dipper and Mabel started their first official day of Mystery Twin-ing (is that what we’re calling it?). They spent that week readjusting back to life in Gravity Falls.

  
And by that, Mabel was spending some time with Candy and Grenda. To everyone’s surprise, the girls were doing less boy-talk and more girl-talk, if that makes any sense. Dipper, all the while, was rummaging through Great Uncle Ford’s old study. It was another room along with the underground laboratory that Soos left untouched. Dipper had taken to looking through any and all files and information he could find. There were even some files that Dipper recognized and subjects from the journals. Ford must have made some copies. And he wasn’t the only one. Searching the laboratory, Dipper found photo copies of all three journals!

  
“Grunkle Stan must have made these.” Dipper thought. The pages and been stuffed behind on of the machines that had been used to once work the portal. Somehow, despite all the abuse the Mystery Shack went through last summer, the pages were pretty well in tacked. A bit crunched up, but not damaged beyond belief.

  
Thank you Grunkle Stan, you just saved Dipper from several more sleepless nights.

  
Dipper took the photo copies and put them all in a red folder and titled it “1,2, &3” in black marker. Now that Dipper didn’t have to worry about re-recording what Ford had discovered, Dipper could now focus on continuing where his great uncle had left off.

  
But where to begin?

  
Dipper looked around the study for inspiration. There were numerous specimens and mysterious items laying about. He could start just about anywhere. But then, when his eye hit that one mural, Dipper felt himself almost smile.

  
Really, where better to start than with the greatest, most horrifying, and oldest mystery of Gravity Falls.

 

 _He wasn’t sure how a floating conscious in a null-void could shiver but he was sure as heck doing it._  
_It felt like, for a split second, that he had existed. Just that small moment and he felt real again._  
_Again?_  
_Had he ever been real? He didn’t know but something nagging at the back of his non-physical brain told he had been once upon a time. It felt strange. But familiar at the same time._  
_Had someone….been thinking about him? He had seemed to pass like a thought; in and out. Just long enough to…to…_  
_Well, he wasn’t sure._  
_He groaned a bit as he registered being back in the void. His thoughts were so jumbled here. He needed something to keep them anchored, or solid. Staying in this void, he was afraid he’d break apart into nothing._  
_Break apart._  
_He’s starting to think that’s how he got here._

 

“Okay Mabel.” Dipper said, shrugging on his back-pack filled with his journal and the red folder (among other nerdy things). “Today begins Day 1 of the Mystery Twin adventures!”

  
“Are we really calling it that?” Mabel asked, genuinely curious.

  
Dipper shrugged. “It was that or the name Soos made up from one of his fanfictions.”

  
“Do I wanna-“

  
“No.” Dipper interrupted her before having a question of his own. “Are you really bringing that?”

  
He was talking about the giant butterfly net that she held over her shoulder. It was as tall as her (she still had that millimeter on him) and the net was big enough to hold something about half their size.

  
“What? Melody wanted to borrow my grappling hook so she traded me this cool net for the time being.” Mabel grinned as she swooped the net over Dipper’s head. “Hah! Isn’t it amazing?”

  
“Yeah, really amazing.” Dipper said flatly, before slapping the net away. He started leading them towards into the woods. “Now come on! I want to try and get this done before sundown.”

  
“Where are we going anyway?” Mabel asked as she followed. The forest had grown thicker since they had left, making it a bit more difficult to traverse through.

  
Dipper pushed a low hanging branch out of the way and held it until Mabel was clear. “Well, since I’ve found those photo copies of the journals, I’ve been trying to think of where to start. Seeing some of the murals in Ford’s study got me thinking.”

  
“Yeah?” They jumped over a small creak. Mabel took a moment to skip a pebble over the water.

  
“Mabel, how much do we really know about the second dimension?” The way Dipper asked almost sent a wave of unease through Mabel. She knew where this as going.

  
“You don’t mean…?” Mabel didn’t even need to finish that sentence.

  
“Think about it, Mabel.” Dipper went on. “Bill can’t be the only one from his dimension that can interact with ours through the dreamscape. Who’s to say there won’t be someone like him to try and kick-start Weirdmagedon 2?” Mabel said nothing as they started to near the weird shaped cliffs that bordered the town. “I just want to see if there’s more we can learn about him. What he was. So that when next time, if there ever is one, we can be more prepared.”

  
_There it was again. That damn shiver in the void. It still felt like he had only been a thought, passing like neurons._

  
“Where are you gonna start looking?” Mabel finally asked.

  
“Great Uncle Ford talked about how the natives of Gravity Falls wrote of their first encounter with Bill in a cave. Maybe there’s something there, that Ford missed.” Dipper said as trees gave way to boulders as they neared the slopes that led up the cliffs. “I just want to be sure.”

  
Mabel said nothing and continued to frown with concern as they walked up the slopes until they reached the rickety train tracks that were built between the cliffs. By Mabel’s record, the twins had only been up here twice. Once being chased by Gideon-bot, the other was when Mabel Land still existed. Neither memory sat very well with Mabel, but she decided to focus ahead as Dipper led them across the tracks to a boarded up cave entrance.

  
_It was starting to happen more frequently. But he was tired of passing in and out of reality as just a thought. Maybe if he tried reaching out..._

  
“It should be here.” Mabel watched as her brother pulled out the red folder and skimmed the pages until he found the one with Bill Cipher’s wheel (the page from Journal 2). Dipper trailed a finger over some writing before smiling. “Right! Now we just have to-“ Mabel, already reading her brother’s mind, well more guessed (god she wished twin ESP was a thing), went barreling full force toward the boards that blocked their path.

  
“MYSTERY TWIN POWER.” She screamed. Dipper probably winced as he watched his sister collide with the boards, which thankfully, were really damn old and broke like twigs against Mabel’s strength. They had broken so easily that Mabel had barely lost her momentum. But she did lose her balance. The moment she was through the boards, Mabel tripped over her own feet and went rolling like a pill-bug.

  
“Mabel, wait!” Dipper called, pulling a flashlight out of his back-pack while trying to catch up with his rolling sister. The cave was small at first, like a mining tunnel would be, but it quickly grew in width and height. As he walked deeper and deeper, he began to hear water dripping and the rustle of bat’s wings. He walked pensively, hell-bent on finding Mabel. Knowing his sister, she was probably fine; but, as Dipper had learned from last summer, his sister came before any mystery.

  
_He tried reaching out to those thoughts that had brought him back. Forget about having no memories. Right now he wanted out of this void!_

  
“HELLO!”

  
Dipper let out a rather undignified scream as Mabel jumped up from behind him. She had her arms raised and everything before she hugged herself laughing at her brother’s girlish cry. Dipper repaid the favor by gently punching her arm only to be punched back. In the end they were both laughing as they continued on their mystery hunt.

  
“So, how did the native people get down here, anyway?” Mabel wondered as ground bellow their feet started to get pokier with tall sharp stones. “Did they have to climb up the cliff?”

  
“It may not have even been a cliff when they got here.” Dipper was reminded of the alien space-ship that now resided under Gravity Falls.

  
_The more he focused of the thoughts the more he began to get a glimpse of beyond the void. It was dark, pitch-black and complete contrast to the white void he now dwelled. As he continued to look into the darkness he began to see a beam of light coming closer._

  
“Dipper, look!” Mabel grabbed her brother’s arm and pointed his flashlight at a nearby wall. Both twins gaped, in equal awe and unease as they found what they were looking for.

  
_The new light hit him right in the non-existent eye. Or maybe he had two eyes. Who knows; he sure as heck didn't. A shame he couldn’t see who, or what, was shining the light at him._

  
“Do you see anything different than what Grunkle Ford wrote?”

  
Dipper studied the journal page as well as the wall painting. But to no avail, he soon found. It didn’t look like Great Uncle Ford missed a single detail. Mabel was suddenly beside him, trifling through his backpack until she pulled out the small black-light.  
“Mabel, I appreciate the effort but do you really think that a thousand year old carving will hav-”

  
“BWOMP.” Mabel ignored him and turned the black light on. Dipper sighed and humored his sister by taking the black light and pointing it at the wall. What they saw made them gasp.

  
_Another light was hitting him now, it made him slightly more lit up(heh) than the other light._

  
“No. Way.” Was all Dipper said as he took a closer look at the new, black-lit lettering.

  
“Do you think natives had their own black-light dance parties?” Mabel said without putting much thought into the question.

  
“Mabel, look at this!” Dipper could barely keep his excitement over what they found. The natives, somehow, made their own kind of invisible ink and used it to hide the secrets they must have thought too dangerous to bring to normal light. One piece of text caught his attention the most though as he actually recognized most of the symbols from it.

  
Mabel scooted up beside him to look at what he was pointing at. “What’s it say?”

  
Dipper was still learning, but he could at least read some of it.

  
“BRING BACK WHAT HAS BEEN BROKEN  
TWO _something something_ OF _something something_ something TOKEN”

  
There was more, but Dipper couldn't tell what it said. So instead he took out his phone and snapped a photo. Something to look at later.

"What's this bit say?" Mabel pointed at a smaller batch of black-light letters that were written right bellow the summoning spell. Dipper studied them for a moment before reading them out loud without thinking.

  
“It just says “BACWARDS” and…”

  
“And what?”

  
Dipper shook his head and flipped through the red folder. “I’m not sure, hold on.” Mabel all the while just stared at the writing until she smiled as a funny thought hit her.

  
“Hey, Dipper how funny would it be if it said “BACKWARDS MESSAGE”?” Mabel laughed only to immediately regret it as the Cipher wheel began to glow.

  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Was all Dipper said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys, listen to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpwxwHaNxis

_"We'll meet again_  
 _Don't know where_  
 _Don't know when_  
 _But I know we'll meet again some sunny day"_

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!” A high pitched scream filled the cave. The twin covered their ears and ducked as the light from the ancient symbols formed a ball of yellow light.

  
_He felt like he was burning all over. It hurt like hell but also felt familiar. Well, at least he as out of the void now. Out of the void and flying around 50mph with absolutely no control and no idea where he was going._

  
_So, yeah, he was having a blast._

  
The screams turned to manic laughter; still terrified but happy terrified. It was weird. An all too familiar weird for the twins. As the light zipped back out the cave, Mabel and Dipper were on their feet and giving chase.

  
“Dipper! Grab my sweater!” Mabel commanded as she readied her net. Dipper did as she said and grabbed on with both hands. The light was halfway out of the cave entrance when Mabel took a flying leap, pulling Dipper with her, as she swung the net over the light. Oddly enough, the net seemed to work as both the twins were pulled off their feet and hanging from the ball of light as it zigged around in confusion. They nearly collided with the roof of the cave as the light pulled them out into the open air.

  
“Don’t let go!” Dipper clung to his sister as he suddenly found his feet dangling over the valley bellow.

  
“Yeah, you thiiiiaaaaAAAAAAAAGH” Mabel’s retort turned to screaming and was joined her brother as the light went flying again. It went up and over the cliff edge and into the woods. By some miracle, the ball of light managed to avoid the trees. As for branches, bushes, and other wildlife, that was another story.

  
Dipper let out a squeak of surprise as they barreled through a rather thick bush and Mabel managed to get a squirrel in her mouth, only to spit it out and have it land on Dipper’s head. The squirrel gave him a few good scratches before slipping off as the twins were still being pulled along through the air at 50mph.

  
Yeah, it was a blast.

  
They would have sighed with relief as they finally came into a small clearing, only to scream again as something stone obstructed their path. They braced themselves. At the speed they were going the twins would no doubt go SPLAT against the stone. But the splat never came. The light got to the stone before them and only then did it phase through the net and into the stone. With nothing pulling them anymore, Mabel and Dipper fell to the ground in a skidding roll (the poor grass).

  
“Ugh..” They both groaned as they helped each other up, checking the other for any serious damage. Satisfied that neither of them had obtained any serious injuries, just a few bumps and bruises, they turned their attention back to the stone.

  
“Oh no.” Dipper felt his heart sink to his stomach as they realized who the peculiar statue, with his outstretched hand, was. The statue, which had been nothing but that for the past year, started to move.

  
First, it shook and shivered, as if something just bellow the surface was trying to break free. Which is exactly what as happening as the stone began to crack and chip apart. An ominous blue light shown through the cracks as well as made the stone itself begin to glow. The light of the sun seemed to be forgotten in that small little clearing.

  
“Dipper?” Mabel said with unease. But Dipper didn’t reply, he as completely speechless as to what was happening.

  
As the statue grew brighter and brighter, it’s surface began to crack. A high pitched static sound suddenly filled the air followed by a familiar voice.

  
“NRUTER YAM I TAHT REWOP TNEICNA EHT EKOVNI I NRUB OT EMOC SAH EMIT Y M L T O L O X A!!!!!!!!!”

  
The statue shattered as the ball of light burst from within and went flying again. Mabel and Dipper dropped to the ground as the light bounced like a pinball from tree to tree until it finally went splat into a sturdy oak. It stuck there for a moment, formless but (without a doubt) alive. It groaned as it suddenly began to shift into a familiar form and color.

  
“Ugh…My everything hurts.” Bill moaned as gravity peeled him off the tree and onto the ground with a thud. “Ow.” He let out a weak laugh, no doubt at the prospect of feeling pain again.

  
The twins all the while watched in utter horror and shock. Mabel was the first to act. Quickly, she took up her twin-size butterfly net and slammed it down hard over Bill, who was still dizzy on the ground.

  
“Got you!” She yelled, not triumphantly for she was still in shock.

  
“WAAH??!” Bill jumped up onto his black, pencil legs. He teetered for a moment, as if not used to his own weight. He flailed his arms uselessly under the net. “Who’s got me?! Where am I?!” He turned to meet gazes with the twins.   
He took one look at Mabel and Dipper before letting out a terrified shriek. “Oh no! Some sort of meat-monster!!!! Are you going to eat me?!!!!” He fell to his knees and began to beg. “Please! **Please!!! Don’t eat me.** ”   
Mabel tilted her head in confusion. Dipper, finally coming out of his shock, only got angry and picked up a nearby rock.

  
“Enough!” Dipper growled holding the rock above his head. Bill let out a small yelp before curling up into a ball (guess as a triangle he’d look like a weirdly bent tablecloth). “Stop playing around, Bill! We’re not going to fall for your tricks!”

  
“T-tricks? Wait. Bill?” The triangle uncurled and looked up, thoroughly confused. “Who’s Bill?”

  
At that Mabel stiffened. “Wait!” She was quick at grabbing Dipper’s hand before he could throw the rock. He looked at her as if she had gone insane. Wouldn’t have been a first, really. Seeing as he was going to wait for her to move, Mabel let go of her brother and turned to Bill. Ignoring Dipper’s warning, she kneeled down beside the entangled Bill. She watched as he tried to flinch away, to no avail. His arms only got caught in the holes of the net.

  
“Do you..” Mabel began. She waited for Bill to meet her gaze and could see the honest fear and confusion in his eyes. “Do you recognize me?”

  
He took a moment to examine her. “Uh…” Eventually, he just shrugged. “The lord of silver teeth?”

  
“Get away from him, Mabel!” Dipper instructed as he moved to throw the rock.

  
“Wait!” Mabel stopped him before he could do any damage. Before he could react, she pulled him a few feet out of earshot. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

  
“You what?!” Dipper didn’t bother lowering his voice. “Mabel, you know what he’s like. You can’t really believe what he’s saying?”

  
“I know that Dipper.” She said, tugging on her sweater sleeve. “It’s just…..he has the same look Stan had.” The air between the twins turned sullen at that memory.

  
“Who’s Stan?” The twins flinched before turning to Bill who was now standing and staring at them with an almost childlike curiosity. “That sounds like a nice name! What’s my name?” His eye suddenly widened and he gasped. “Wait! Is my name Bill? It’s Bill isn’t it?” Mabel and Dipper watched as he shook his own hands. “Hello me! The name’s Bill!” He looked at his hands in surprise. “Hey look! I have hands! I have a body!” In his little prison, he tried and failed to do a little dance to show Mabel and Dipper.

  
Mabel had to stifle an “Awww” while Dipper was just confused.

  
“I don’t get it.” Dipper said as Bill was distracted by his own little feet (They’re so tiny!) “How did Bill survive?”

  
“Maybe the memory gun didn’t erase him completely.” Mabel said. “I mean, Grunkle Stan was able to get his memory back, so maybe Bill wasn’t completely erased?”

  
“That sounds…actually plausible.” Dipper looked back at Bill. He was about half their height and naked with no top hot or tie. It was almost strange seeing him like this. Weak, defenseless and scared. Even stranger seeing the demon standing instead of floating. Just what would Bill have to gain by pretending to have amnesia?

  
Dipper sighed and dropped the rock. “Okay. Let’s assume that Bill actually has amnesia. We can’t exactly leave him as is.”

  
“And I destroyed the memory gun.” Mabel added.

  
“That too.” Dipper rubbed his chin. “Hm…We should probably find somewhere to hide him. It’d be pretty bad if the town went into a complete panic.”

  
“How about the Mystery Shack?” She suggested. “We can keep a close eye on him there and no one will know he’s there so long as we keep him in our room. And hey!” She let on a big smile. “Maybe we can teach him to be good!”

  
That sounded crazy and impossible. He gave her doubtful look. “It’s risky…” Dipper said, eyeing Bill. He looked at them innocently. Oh who was Dipper kidding, of course it was risky! Bringing the very demon who tried to kill them to live with them in their own room?!

  
Well, wouldn’t have been the first time.

  
Dipper sighed and approached the demon.

  
“Okay Bill.” Dipper said in a serious tone. Bill shrunk a little as Dipper came closer. He was only a foot away when he knelt down to meet Bill’s gaze.. “You’re coming with us.” 


	6. Chapter 6

Bill didn’t struggle. But then, even if he did it wouldn’t do him very good.

  
“Where are we going?” Bill asked excitedly as he swung back and forth in the butter fly net. Mabel held the net over her shoulder (like those cartoon hitchhikers with their bags tied to long sticks). Dipper took the lead, being very careful to keep an eye out for any people as they reached the Mystery Shack.

  
“Shh!” Dipper waved a hand for Mabel to get down. They quickly ducked down behind some bushes as Soos, followed by a group of tourists, stopped just a few feet away from them.

  
“And here, folks!” Soos said with arms raised. “Is the pair of totally non-conspicuous bushes! Nothing, and I mean **nothing** , is suspicious about these bushes that, coincidentally, are just the right size for a person to hide behind!”

  
The tourists “Ooo”’d and “Ahhh”’d as they took numerous pictures before Soos led them to another attraction.

  
The twins sighed in relief at the close call. They still waited a bit before coming out into the open. Bill was still swinging in his net, completely oblivious.

  
“Come on. Let’s get inside before anyone spots us.” Dipper said as he reached the back door. Mabel followed only to feel the net slip out of her grip. Bill let out a small yelp as he hit an invisible wall (which only turned visible when he hit it) and fell to the ground. Mabel and Dipper held their breath; half fearing that someone heard them and half terrified of Bill would do as when he stood up and the net fell to his feet.

  
They watched as Bill rubbed his head (side? corner?) in surprise. He tried to see what he had hit, and held his had out to touch whatever was there. His hand rested on the wall which seemed to spring to life at his touch as blue and white symbols became visible over the Shack. When he took his hand away, the symbols disappeared.

  
“The unicorn spell!” The twins said together. They had thought that the spell had been broken, but it still held through even after the beating the Mystery Shack had taken in Weirdmagedon.

  
Bill seemed amused as he let out a small giggle and began continuously poking the barrier. He laughed, like a child, as he watched the symbols reappear and disappear. It was like watching a kid play with a light switch.  
Mabel eventually stopped Bill by grabbing his hands. He looked a little disappointed but didn’t pull away. Instead, he became immediately intrigued at the hand holding his. Mabel looked to Dipper for a solution.

  
Dipper, already thinking, jumped off the porch and found the line of unicorn hair that he and Great Uncle Ford had glued on. He took his pocket knife out and peeled an inch of hair off. The wall of symbols reappeared only to fall apart into specks of light.  
They looked at Bill and he looked at them. Realizing what they wanted, he looked at the ground uncertainly as he took a small step forward. When nothing happened, Mabel took him by the hand again and rushed into the Mystery Shack. Bill’s little feet barely touched the ground as Mabel whisked him away upstairs.

  
Before following, Dipper grabbed out of his pack a bottle of glue (he’s a nerd that comes prepared) and made a quick repair of the cut hair. He watched as the barrier repaired itself and went back to being invisible. He ran in and didn’t even wait to say hi to Gideon and Pacifica as he ran upstairs. He opened the door to his and Mabel’s room and was surprised to find Mabel showing the little triangle demon their room. She was still holding his hand like he was really a child.

  
“And this is Dipper’s bed where he once spent hours just trying to solve all the world’s mysteries! Like why guys have nipples.” Mabel said with gesturing around the small attic.

  
“Mabel, what are you doing?” Dipper tried not to yell as he close the door. “And, really? You had to show him my bed first?”

  
Mabel simply shrugged, letting Bill wander around the room. “Well, he should know if he’s gonna be living up here.”

  
“He isn’t living here, Mabel. Okay? We’re hiding him up here until we know what to do with him.”

  
“So, this is Dipper’s bed?” Mabel and Dipper turned their heads to Bill, who was now climbing onto to Dipper’s bed to sit. He flipped over to look at them. “So that means you.” He pointed at Dipper. “You’re Dipper. And you…” He then pointed at Mabel. “Are Mabel? That’s what you’re called right?” He looked like he was really thinking about those names. For a moment Dipper as afraid that he was starting to remember something.

  
But then Bill looked at both of them and said flatly “Those sound like old people names.”

  
Dipper sighed/groaned. Mabel laughed.

  
It wasn’t difficult making Bill a place to sleep for the night. Mabel, master of fabrication, made a hammock in the alcove (Soos had moved the old arcade games back downstairs leaving plenty of room) using a big, faded-green blanket, some pins to hold it up, and one of Mabel’s pillows that read in hand-stitched letters “BEAUTY SLEEP”.

  
Bill practically squealed as he bounced up and down in his new bed. “This is great! I don’t think I’ve ever had a bed before!” He stopped bouncing, suddenly looking serious. “Then again, I don’t remember. Huh.” He leaned back against his pillow in thought. “Weird.”

  
He let out a small yawn, his eye seemingly stretching as he did so. And before either of them knew it, Bill had fallen asleep. With Dipper’s help, Mabel hung up another blanket as a curtain around the alcove concealing Bill shadow.

  
“We shouldn’t really have to worry about anyone coming up here, right?” Mabel asked, sitting down on her own bed.

  
“Better not to risk it.” Dipper copied his twin in sitting on his bed. “For now, though, we should probably lock the doors for now.”

  
“Yeah….” Mabel nodded, tugging on her sweater sleeve. “I don’t get it, though, Dipper. I mean…” She looked over at the curtain. “He’s so…”

  
“Child-like.” Dipper finished and couldn’t help but agree. “It makes you wonder just what happened his dimension.”

  
Mabel did a dramatic sigh (the conversation seemed to call for it). “He must have such a tragic backstory!”

  
Now that as when Dipper really put his foot down. “Oh no. Do not start sympathizing with the enemy, Mabel.”

  
Mabel frowned. “What? It isn’t like he remembers being an all powerful demon that tried to destroy the world.”

  
“If Stan can get his memories back, than so can Bill.” Dipper said. “Until we figure out how to deal with him once and for all, I don’t want to risk letting him get close. Not to you. Not to me. Not to **anyone**.”

  
But Mabel persisted. “But that doesn’t mean we should treat him like the enemy. C’mon, Dipper! Whatever happened to second-chances? Who’s to say Bill can’t learn to be good?”

  
“I’m saying!”

  
“Dipper. You can’t tell me you don’t believe in the possibility that evil can turn good.” She pointed at the floor. “Look at the very two people who are now working here trying to make amends.”

  
“Mabel, we’re talking about a **demon** who possesses people and takes joy in torturing them and those they love!” Dipper was nearly yelling, only to immediately zip it as he could hear Bill mumbling in his sleep from behind the curtain. He sighed and forced his inside voice. “It’s bad enough we have him **here**. The only thing that’ll help me sleep at night is the fact that he can’t leave the Mystery Shack (thank you, unicorn spell). I’m not sure I even want to risk giving him a second chance.”

  
“Well I am.” Mabel said in a voice that demanded no argument. “Just, promise me that you won’t treat him like a villain while he’s here with us. Because as of right now, Bill Cipher is nothing more than a little creature with no memories. Now, if he gets his memories back and continues being evil, than you can go about trying to stop him.”

  
Dipper looked her in the eye and she held his gaze in equal seriousness. He knew she wasn’t going to back down from this. And truth be told, Dipper actually agreed with her. As evil as Bill was, or had been, even he deserved a second chance. But that didn’t mean Dipper wasn’t going to be prepared for the worst.

  
Finally, Dipper let out a sigh. “Alright. Okay. I’ll try to not to want to punch him in the eye every time I look at him. But you have to promise that you’ll be careful around him. And if he starts acting up, you come and tell me right away!”

  
Mabel laughed and gave her brother a reassuring, and slightly teasing laugh. “Okay, **mom**.” Dipper couldn’t help but smile at that.

  
And that’s where they left it. Besides, they were able to stop Bill before, they could do it again.

  
Dipper just hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning seemed to go without any sort of “things” happening. Dipper woke up before Mabel and the first thing he did was to check on Bill. The demon had done nothing but sit in his hammock and stare around the room. At first Dipper would have thought the demon had turned back to stone. Or perhaps that Bill was still in a shocked realization that he wasn’t stone anymore. He was like that all morning. The only time he did move was when Dipper left the attic.

  
“Where are you going?” Bill asked, leaning over the edge of his hammock to peek through the curtain. And, to anyone who has ever slept in a hammock would know, leaning on the edge of a hammock often results in falling off the hammock and onto the ground. (three hammocks in one sentence grammar nazis eat your heart out) Which is what Bill did. He landed flat like a disk and stayed there a for moment or two before springing back up on his tiny feet and stood there as if his little fall never happened.

  
“Downstairs.” Dipper answered. He was halfway out the door when a small hand caught the bottom of his jacket.

  
“Can I come?” Bill asked, looking excited. Dipper couldn’t stop the shiver that look gave him. Amnesiac or not, **that look** would always set Dipper on edge.

  
Dipper stared at Bill. And **stared** at him. Bill didn’t seem to be catching on, completely oblivious to the silence Dipper as giving him.

  
“No.” Dipper finally said. He shut the door behind him before Bill could say anything else.

  
It was still early. The only other person who was up was Soos who was taking the early morning to restock shelves in the gift shop.

  
“Oh, hey Dipper!” Soos smiled when he say Dipper enter. “What’s up dude? You’re up early.”

  
“Couldn’t go back to sleep.” Dipper said, which was true. Though as he watched Soos restock Dipper realized that he and Mabel would need to tell him about Bill. The Mystery Shack did technically belong to Soos now (though everyone, including Soos, still believed ownership of the Shack still belonged to the Stan twins). It would be wrong to keep something like Bill from the former handyman.

  
“Hey, Soos?” Dipper took a seat by the register stand where Soos was now checking the register. “Have you had any monsters come by the shack, recently?”

  
“No more than usual, dude!” Soos said occupied by the cash in his hands. “We get the occasional gnomes and manitors come by to say hi. And, man! Let me tell you those wild boy band guys do great morning rooster calls.”

  
Dipper laughed. He had already heard plenty of the several times during the past week (emphasis on heard, he’s yet to actually see any harmonic blondes in the woods)

  
“Anyways, why do you ask, dude?” Soos spared a curious glance at Dipper. “You and Mabel find yourself another mystery, already?”

  
“You could say that.” Dipper scratched the back of his head along with trying to stifle a nervous chuckle.

  
Soos narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What suspicious behavior.” Was all he said before suddenly brightening back to his ol’ soosy self. “Well! If you and Mabel ever need any help, just give your pterodactyl bro/former handy-man a shout.”

  
Dipper didn’t pretend to know what was going on in the man’s head. But he admired the idea that if Soos did know that something was up he wasn’t going to pressure Dipper into coming forward about it.

  
Dipper gave Soos a firm and grateful nod before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. When the truth was ready to be told, Dipper would be sure that Soos be the first to know.

  
And he and Mabel were going to do it together.

  
Speaking of Mabel; while Dipper was pouring a bowl of cereal, Mabel was just getting out of bed.

  
Despite it being early morning, Mabel jumped out of bed with gusto. She left a drowsy Waddles on the bed, though not before planting a kiss on his chubby head, before going to her dresser and getting dressed from the day. She decided to wear her sunrise sweater with orange leggings and little sun earrings to match.

  
“Good morning Mabel!” She said to her reflection in the tall mirror by her dresser. “Hm…” Mabel studied herself for a moment than decided to put her hair up in a ponytail. “Perfect!” In the reflection, she suddenly noticed Bill by the door. She turned and waved at the little demon. “Good morning!” Mabel gave him a big smile.

  
Now, make no mistake, Mabel was just as scared of Bill as Dipper was. But she would stay true to her word; unless Bill regain his memories and started doing evil again, Mabel refused to treat the demon poorly for actions he has no memories of.

  
Bill was seemingly lost in thought. He had been sitting with his back-side(?) against the door frame while staring down at the floor. He didn’t notice Mabel until after she had spoken to him. Mabel watched as the gears seem to turn behind his one eye before something clicked and Bill jumped up with sudden vigor.

  
“Hello!” Bill said with the tip of the-

  
Wait.

  
Bill grabbed at the empty air above his top corner. But alas, there was nothing there to tip. Mabel watched, almost a bit sad, as Bill lowered his tiny hand and stared at the black mass confused. And Mabel knew why.

  
“Hang on.” Mabel said, drawing Bill’s attention, as she went to grab something from under her bed. She made a show of pulling out a large, faded, hand-sewn bag filled to the brim with brightly colored thread and large needles. Bill didn’t know what to make of it, even less so the sudden look that spread on the girl’s face. Oh dear god, how had her cheeks not started to break? “Prepare to be made beautiful.”  
Bill had a bad feeling about this.

  
…..

  
If a triangle could make a human face of fear, Dipper would have snapped a photo. But Mabel apparently had beaten him to it in not even the half-hour that Dipper was downstairs. By the time he opened the door back to the attic, Mabel had managed to knit a little sweater, tie, and hat for Bill while taking a picture in the process.

  
“Scrapbookertoonity!” Dipper heard her say followed the sound of a camera flash. He opened the door to the site of Mabel standing in front of Bill who was now wearing the new outfit made just for him while standing on a cardboard box like those bride-to-be’s getting fitted. Except this wasn’t a bridal fitting.

  
The sweater and tie, both red plaid, were almost too big on the demon. The hat was no better and seemed a little top heavy as it tilted a little. Bill stood rigid with his arms parallel to the floor, almost afraid to put them down.

  
“What are you doing?” Was the first thing that came from his mouth once the door was closed.

  
Mabel turned to him with **that smile** on her face. “My greatest work since Wax Stan! I present to you-“ She stepped back to show off her work. “Amnesiac Bill!!!”

  
This would be the part were some cheesy TA-DA kind of music would play. But they were in the attic with only Soos’s sound keyboard leaving Mabel to improvise with lightning boom sounds. Bill tried to smile, but he had no mouth so it just looked lie he was squinting. He raised one arm, his pencil arms were almost completely swallowed by his sweater sleeves, and waved awkwardly at Dipper.

  
“Hello.” Bill said, sounding as uncomfortable as he felt. “I can barely move.”

  
“Yep!” Mabel laughed as if it were completely normal. “That’ll pass once your muscles work past the tight-stitching….” She trailed off before squinting at Bill as if it only just occurred to her. “Do…do you even **have** muscles?”

  
No one said anything for a while before Dipper sighed and made his way to his bed. Mabel, realizing she was hungry went downstairs to get herself breakfast. Bill stayed on his box, content to starring at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his hat and tie.

  
“Boy! Your sister sure knows how to put together a good outfit!” Bill said, trying and failing to straighten his hat(it just wasn’t having it). His tie was much bigger and three-dimensional than his old black one.

  
“Yeah, well,” Dipper plopped down onto his bed and pulled out the red folder and his own journal from beneath his pillow. “don’t get used to it. That’s probably all your going to get.” That was a lie. Dipper knew his sister. She probably already had a dozen sweater designs planned out for the demon.

  
“I don’t think I’ve ever had my own clothes before!”

  
The statement on it’s own was odd enough to Dipper. But to hear it stated in almost a cheerfully confused way made Dipper look up from what he was doing. Bill hadn’t so much as turned to meet the boy’s gaze as he was much too distracted by the mirror.

Though, now that Dipper thought about it, it made sense. The old top hat and tie that Bill once wore weren’t actual clothing. If he remembered right, those were actually **apart** of Bill’s physical form(for the three days he had one not including present time). He wondered what happen to them.

  
Just another mystery to solve.

  
Dipper shook his head and looked back at the papers in his left hand while his right hand was holding a pen over a blank page in his journal. The papers he held were all the pages of Bill.

  
_“Another mystery, indeed.”_ Dipper thought as he began to write.

  
_It has come to my attention, that even with all the research and study put into this one creature, there is still very little known about the demon Bill Cipher._  
_By the fortunate state of his amnesia, Bill has no memory of who he is, what he has done, or what he may still be capable of. So far, he proves to be no longer a threat to our dimension or reality. Though this may very well be another one of the demon’s tricks._  
_By chance it isn’t a trick and Bill truly does have amnesia, I will dedicate as much time studying him and learning what I can. I will be sure to record as much as possible._  
_If it is a trick, then we can only prepare for the worst._

  
**THONK!**

  
Dipper jumped a little. He tried not to look panicked as he shot a glare at Bill. The demon had stepped off the box and apparently thought it had been a good idea the throw the cardboard box across the room. He had watched it hit the closet and fall to the floor before turning to Dipper with a look of pure joy.

  
Bill had just discovered that he could touch stuff.

  
_“Oh no.”_ was all Dipper thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, but hey, old people like old movies.

“You know, when I pictured bonding with my long lost twin brother during the adventure of a lifetime, this is not what I had in mind.” Stan said as he had almost slipped off the side of the glacier. **For a third time that hour.**

 

“Oh, don’t be like that Stanley.” Ford said. Not annoyed. No. Ford was way too excited at the prospect of finding something to be annoyed. In fact, Stan could practically **hear** his twin brother smiling from up above him. “Now just put you foot there-no-you’re right foot-yes-there. You’ve almost made it.”

 

“Will you give it a rest, Sixer?” Stan groaned. “I think I know how to climb ice.”

 

“If you climbed it as well you’re old chair, then I’d be impressed.”

 

“What was that?”

 

“Oh, nothing.”

 

Stan frowned. But, when he finally reached the top alongside Ford and saw his brother smile, he decided to let it go.

 

Besides, he could probably use a few good kicks to the ego.

 

Looking around though, on a flat ice surface of nothingness, Stan failed to see what they were trying to find.

 

“Okay, so we’re now on top of the floating chunk of ice.” Stan stated, unimpressed. “Now what? Is this the part where you use some science gizmo aaaaaaand yep there’s the science gizmo.” He watched as Ford pulled a small metal box with a circle display pad and miniature satellite antennae from his trench coat (he actually had a winter edition coat with the fur lining and everything I mean yeesh what is it with this guy and coats).   

 

Ford explained nothing. Which, really, was for the best because whatever explanation it was Stan would understand none of it. And Stan was quite at peace with not understanding his brother’s science-jargon. So long as he didn’t have to listen to it.

 

“Aha!” Ford said as the device pinged. “There’s an energy signature at the center of this glacier. Now I just have to make an opening where the ice is weakest.”

 

“Hope you brought a shovel or a drill in that coat of yours.” Stan said, almost teasingly.

 

“Even better!” Ford said, putting the weird device back in his coat and pulling out and even **weirder** gun thingy-majig with lights that looked to be pulsating some kind of heat. Ford took only second to aim the thing before a uncharacteristically large beam of orange light shot out of the small gun and pierced into the ice. “This might take a while.”

 

Of course it was.

 

 

The first day with Bill in the attic was **okay.**

 

It was **fine.**

 

Now the second day was another story.

 

Both the twins woke up to the sound of what was way too much giggling at 4 in the morning. Dipper was the first to bolt up as he heard the sound of paper ripping.

 

“Stop! The journals!” Dipper shouted as he sprung to his feet, sending his blanket flying.

 

Bill sat in the center of the room with a pile of shredded game cards pooled on his lap (his legs are way too skinny to have a lap but you get the idea). He was halfway through ripping another card in half when Dipper suddenly jumped from the bed. He had stopped, looking at Dipper. Then back at the card.

 

To Dipper.

 

The card.

 

Dipper.

 

Card.

 

Finally, he just shrugged and completed ripping the card and let the two halves fall onto the top of the pile. “Paper sure is flimsy. I don’t know why you guys use it.”

 

Dipper groaned  and pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned his attention to Mabel who was just waking up from Dipper’s outburst.

 

“Whazzat?” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “What about the jour-“ She stopped mid-sentence as she saw the scene laid out in front of her. “Ah.” She turned back over in her bed to go back to sleep.

 

Dipper sighed before doing the same. He pulled back his thrown off blankets, facing the wall; as if that would help him ignore all the noise Bill was making.

 

Now, despite what’s written in most stories, it’s actually pretty easy to ignore things when you’re asleep. Dipper had practice when it came to Mabel hosting sleep-overs.

 

However, ignoring things when you’re awake has proven more difficult.

 

**Much** more difficult.

 

_rip rip rip_

 

“Heeheeehee~!”

 

_rip rip rip_

 

“Heeheehee~!”

 

_rip rip rip_

 

“Heehee-“

 

“Okay I can’t keep listening to this!” Dipper stated, sitting up right. Only when he hopped off his bed did Bill stop ripping cards. The dream demon watched as Dipper made his way to the suitcase at the edge of his bed. He opened the case up and pulled out his laptop and a set of headphones. He put the items on his bed before turning to Bill. He honestly didn’t want to think about what kind of shows Bill would watch in his universe(if they even had TV) and he wasn’t going to bother asking.

At this point, Bill had left his card pile and standing by his box. Dipper frowned and walked over to him, picked him up and plopped the demon on the box.

 

“Sit.” He instructed.

 

Bill sat, his pencil legs straight out in front of him.

 

“Stay.” He emphasized the command by pointing at the box with his finger.

 

Bill just blinked.

 

Dipper retrieved his laptop and headphones. He opened it up in his arms and turned it on. All his research videos(and other private things) were kept on a separate flash drive. So no worry there. He did have some movies downloaded (totally legal) on here that should keep the demon busy until morning.

 

Or Bill will break the laptop in some horrible, if not slightly humorous, fashion.

 

Once he had a movie picked out he placed it front of Bill with the screen facing him. He plugged the headphones in and held it out as to put them on the demon but stopped.

 

Flat triangle.

 

Headphones meant to fit on a round head.

 

Hm. He hadn’t thought this through.

 

Eventually he settled with stretching the headphones as far as their extension would allow and put it so both earmuffs were on both sides of Bill. Yeah. That should work.

 

“Watch the movie and don’t break it.” Was the last thing Dipper said before pressing play and leaving Bill to his movie. Now it’s back-to-bed time.

 

As Dipper went back to bed, Bill stared at the screen in front of him as the title sequence started and all the colors turned sepia tone.

 

 

Mabel woke up first later that morning (at a much more decent hour thank god) only to find Bill (still) sitting on his box and watching the laptop screen. His eye was squinted and strained from watching in the dark and-wait.

 

“Bill.” Mabel started. “Are you…crying?”

 

 He didn’t respond right away as he reached up and grabbed his hat, holding it to his chest(midsection?). “ _Sniff_ No. I’m just feeling emotions for a fictional character.” Mabel got up and made her way over to investigate.

 

“Ugh.” Mabel groaned as she recognized Sturly Stembleburrgiss and Grampton St. Rumpterfrabble on the screen. “Old timey old lady movies.”

 

Why did Dipper have that on his laptop?

 

Bill wiped his tiny tears on his sweater sleeve as the movie came to an end. “It was so beautiful.” 

 

“How many times did you watch this?”

 

Bill was silent for a moment before his brow creased.

 

“…I lost count.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A good decision and a bad decision.

Soos was not a fool. 

True, he was a goof and, on occasion liked to dress as a jester for costume parties. And, yes, wile he was currently pulling that very same costume on that very morning, something was….amiss. 

“Regale me with how this is supposedly going to win more money from customers.” Gideon said as he leaned on a podium he had just been dusting.

“You know the old saying.” Soos replied as he gestured at the new attraction. It was an otter-moose hybrid dressed in a jester’s hat. “Sometimes you gotta dress what you’re selling.”

“That ain’t old or a saying.” Gideon said, not really minding that he wasn’t heard as he saw Mabel enter the room. He was quick to straighten up and continued dusting. If there was anyone he wanted to prove that he really had changed, he wanted Mabel to be the first. 

“SOOS!” Mabel’s yelled, pointing at the man in question. Her sudden outburst surprised Gideon as he was now trying to his just dusted podium from falling over. “We need you upstairs! There’s an entire cheese pizza stuck to the ceiling!” 

Soos, only halfway into his jester costume, stopped what he as doing. “There is a pizza that I have yet to eat?!” In one swift move, Soos tore off the jester costume(leaving himself once more a half naked man-baby) and tossing said costume onto the head of Gideon. “Gideon! Man the jester!” He took a moment to look off into the distance. “I am needed elsewhere.” 

“And what am I supposed to do with this?” Gideon wrinkled his nose at the smelly costume in his hands.

“The role of jester is passed on to you!” Soos said as he followed Mabel upstairs. He poked his head back in the room to quickly add “Until I come back. Remember: Dress what you’re selling!”. 

Gideon watched as Soos and Mabel left the room before going to the wall mirror. “Oh Gideon. The things you’ll do to prove yourself.” 

He was halfway through changing when he heard a high pitched scream from upstairs. A good thing Gideon had been working at the shack long enough to know that the scream belonged to Soos. He was probably screaming from walking into a spider’s web again. 

He may have been working there to prove he was good. That didn’t necessarily mean he had to be there whenever his employer screamed at the top of his lungs. 

And while, yes, Gideon was right in that it was Soos screaming. 

He was wrong about what Soos was screaming at. 

 

Mabel closed the door behind the former repairman when Soos screamed. Neither of the twins were really surprised and were content in letting the man scream it out. Bill raised a brow but otherwise didn’t move from the center of the room.   

Once Soos stopped screaming, everyone was quiet.  

Except for Bill. 

“Wow!” Bill laughed. “You can scream really high! Are you a balloon?” He laughed again at his own joke. 

“Ugh…” Soos was lost for words.

“Joking!” Bill said, flapping his long sleeves in the air. “I don’t know what balloons are.” 

Soos turned a dazed, but serious, look to the twins. “Dudes….”

“We know.” They said. 

The next hour was spent with the twins explaining to Soos the last couple of days. How they explored the cave, the invisible writing, Bill’s “resurrection” of sorts, and everything that happened since then. Bill all the while sat on the ground with his fully ripped deck of cards. He took halves from different cards and began taping them together. Bill didn’t know what the cards were even for, but the K and the J card looked similar in a funny way. He laughed to himself as he taped those two halves together.  

“So, he doesn’t remember anything?” Soos clarified as he sat on Dipper’s bed while the twins sat across on Mabel’s.

“He hasn’t shown any signs that he does.” Dipper said. The twins watched as Soos turned his attention to the dream demon sitting on the floor. He stood up and took a few steps forward until he was kneeling in front of the amnesiac triangle. Bill stopped what he was doing to meet the bigger man’s gaze. The twins couldn’t tell if the two were having a stare off or were examining each other.

Finally, to everyone’s surprise, Soos held out his hand.  

“Sup triangle dude. The name’s Soos.” Soos introduced with a friendly smile. “Welcome to the Mystery Shack.” Bill looked at the hand with uncertainty. He didn’t know why but the gesture seemed rather odd to him. 

Dipper seemed to pick up on that and frowned. Mabel smiled confidently. 

Bill eyed the hand and glanced at Soos before slowly taking the hand in his own. 

….Nothing happened. 

Bill made a confused sound. The big guys hand was really warm and…friendly? But, while Bill wasn’t sure, he felt like something else was supposed to happen after they shook hands. Before he could make heads or tails of the feeling, Soos let go and stood up and turned to the twins. 

“Dudes, thanks for telling me.” Soos gave an appreciating smile. 

At that Dipper smiled. “Ah, Soos, we couldn’t keep something like this from you.”

“Yeah. I mean this your home too.” Mabel added. 

Bill watched as the big guy picked the twins up in a hug. The three laughed as Soos swung them around. 

To say the least, Bill was very confused. 

Everyone seemed to know who he was, except him.

After their hugging was over Soos made his way out the door. The three agreed to wait a little longer before telling everyone else in the house. Soos didn’t like keeping things from Melody or Abuelita, but he new it was best to show Bill when they had everyone in one room.   

As the door closed the twins shared a sigh of relief. But that relief was soon forgotten as they turned to Bill, who was now standing still with a furrowed brow.

“He….knew me.” Bill said slowly. More a statement than question. “Did you two…know me?” 

Mabel glanced at Dipper. She wasn’t smiling as she knelt down beside him. “Look…”She started, thinking really carefully about her words. “Bill, we-“

“We don’t know you.” Mabel and Bill turned to Dipper. His expression unreadable to most but Mabel could tell he was having a hard time saying what he did next. “We heard about you, but most of it silly rumors not worth mentioning.” He paused again to take a breath. “I guess we should apologize for acting the way we did because of them.” 

There was a heavy silence in the room. Dipper met Mabel’s gaze for only a moment before looking away. 

Bill however didn’t seem to catch on as he suddenly brightened up. “Oh! So that’s why everyone knows me! Or maybe they’re just mistaking me for another Bill.” 

Dipper gave a forced chuckle which sounded too natural to Mabel. “Yeah, you know that’s probably it. Right Mabel?” He sent a hopeful look at his sister. She frowned at him but played along none-the-less. 

“There’s only one Bill I know and it’s this little cutie right hear!” Mabel said, hooking an arm around the little triangle and giving him an affectionate noogy. Bill laughed at that, definitely put more at ease now. 

Mabel and Dipper wished they could say the same.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey honey! I'm home! Another short chapter I'm afraid but the next I'm planning to be fairly long.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK BABY. DO I HAVE A SET SCHEDULE FOR THIS FIC? NOPE. DO I HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTERS ALL WRITTEN OUT? SORTA. DO I PLAN ON FINISHING THIS DARN FIC? YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN' I AM. 
> 
> Enjoy a chapter of Gideon freaking out.

For Bill, the first few days in the attic were fun! He had plenty to do. He played with his new deck of cards for starters. Dipper had to teach him the different games one could play with a deck of cards. Of course as soon as the kid taught him go-fish, Bill laughed. How silly was it to name a game after fish?

  
There weren’t even any fish cards!

  
And Bill would know. He had ripped and retaped every single card.

  
Oh well, it was a fun game, especially since Bill decided to switch up the rules. If Dipper asked if he had a queen, Bill would look at his Jack of Queens card and say no. Whenever Bill asked if Dipper had a King of 10s, Dipper sighed and would say how that wasn’t even a real card.

  
He would still give Bill the card.

  
Something Dipper noticed was that Bill still had a bit of his old humor. That humor being making fun of any position of power.

  
Whenever Dipper asked if he had any kings, Bill would make a joke with his King of Joker card.

  
“Unless the king you’re looking for is a fool, I don’t think this is your card!” Bill laughed loud before throwing all his cards in the air. Dipper sighed and put down his deck.

  
“So much for card games.” Dipper mumbled mostly to himself as he watched Bill get up and walk around the room.

  
There was other stuff that Bill liked to do. Whenever he got tired of cards, he would drag Mabel’s sewing bag out from under her bed and try knitting himself another bowtie. Now, he didn’t know how to sew, so his version sewing was simply getting tangled in string.

  
Dipper said nothing as he watched the scene play out. It wasn’t by any means that entertaining to him but it was his turn to watch Bill for the day while Mabel was out with the girls. To his surprise Mabel had actually invited Pacifica along. Even more surprising is that Pacifica agreed, retaining every bit of pride as she did.

  
Dipper pulled out his laptop, maybe he could entertain himself with some youtube videos. The ghost-hunters channel he followed updated pretty regularly so maybe there was a new episode up.

  
Bill stopped his own shenanigans and focused on Dipper and his laptop. Still wrapped in a bundle of string, he waddled over and sat down beside the teen as he tapped away on the keyboard. He made an interested noise as a video popped up on the screen. Oooo~! Another movie! Bill liked the last one Dipper played, he wondered what this one was about.

  
Dipper forced himself not to flinch away when the amnesiac demon sat down way to close to him. It seemed the demons sense of personal space hadn’t changed in the slightest. But he kept his gaze on the screen and didn’t say anything to interrupt, so Dipper would tolerate the invasion of space for now.

  
The video started with the typical spiel; Another abandoned house suspected to that the former owners (deceased of course) still lived in the house. The same kind of stuff from previous episodes, Dipper realized, but he enjoyed the professionalism the team had about their investigations. He liked watching the set up portion, getting a good look at the equipment and what was needed to detect ghosts. After that it was lights out and the team walking about the house in the familiar night-vision green lighting. Bill made a confused grunt at that part but made no comment.

  
They were about 15 minutes in, the team had just walked down a rather spooky looking hallway, when Bill finally spoke up.

  
“What are they all doing?” He asked. He had a furrowed brow when Dipper glanced at him.

  
“There searching for the spirits that might be in the house.” Dipper answered. Bill nodded -sort of- at that and returned to silence as they both returned to watching the video. The team split up, two in the main bedroom and two in the living room. The two in the living room, both woman, began speaking out for spirits. That was when Bill spoke again.

  
“Why are they talking like that?” He asked.

  
Dipper refrained from rolling his eyes as he pointed out the recording device in the ladies hands. “They’re trying to get a reaction from any spirits and catch any audio if they speak.”

  
Bill looked even more confused. “Why do all that when he’s right there?” He gestured at the screen as if to prove his point. Now it was Dipper’s turn to be confused. He looked from Bill to the screen. The only people in the room were the two woman. He looked back at Bill, confused. Bill rolled his eye, sitting up to lean over the keyboard and tapped his finger on the screen, at the very corner of the room.

  
“See? He’s been standing there since they got there.” Dipper looked at where Bill pointed, the video did look a little distorted in that section, but Dipper had just passed it off as a smudge on the camera lens.

  
“Huh. Is he doing anything else?” Dipper asked.

  
“Well he did scream when they came into the bathroom. But, right now he’s just standing.” Bill sat back down. He watched the screen and laughed, pointing. “Ha! He just gave the blonde bunny ears!”

  
Oh great! The childish part of Bill’s humor was intact as well.

  
Yay.

  
A sudden knock on the door sent Dipper flying over his laptop, with Bill in toe.

  
“Mmf!!??” Came Bill’s muffled exclamation as he was shoved into the bag of sewing supplies. His voice muffled by balls of yarn.

  
“Hey dawg!” Soos greeted as he opened the door.

  
Now imagine, if you will, Soos walking in to seeing Dipper laid out dramatically on the floor with his hand in Mabel’s sewing bag, sweating like all pre-pubescent teens do.

  
Have we all imagined it?

  
Yes?

  
Good. Carrying on.

  
Soos isn’t phased by what he’s sees. Instead he closes the door behind him and walks into the room as if everything were normal. Dipper sighed standing up, leaving Bill to get himself untangled from the bag.

  
“So, I noticed you haven’t been down all day to eat.” Soos says holding a plate of pizza.

  
“Aw, thanks Soos.” Dipper smiles and accepts the food gladly. Soos turns his attention to the moving bag.

  
“Have you been watching him all day?” Soos asked.

  
“Only until Mabel gets back.” Dipper took a bite of his pizza. Microwaved but still good. “Then it’ll be her turn to watch him.”

  
“How’d you get out of this thing?!” Bill called from inside the bag.

  
“Seriously?.” Dipper put his pizza by the laptop as he knelt down to help the small triangle. “Why don’t you just do what you did last time?”

  
“What did I do last time?” Bill asked.

  
Soos knelt down and grab the bag by it’s bottom end.

  
“Don’t worry, little dude, let good ol’ Soos help you out.” All at once he lifted the bag and gave it one good shake and let all it’s contents spill onto the floor along with Bill.

  
Except unlike the balls of yarn, that went bouncing and rolling, Bill went right through the floor.

  
No. There wasn’t any damage to the actual floor. As soon as Bill’s body touched the wood, the lines of his body turned blue, and he phased through the floor.

  
Both Dipper and Soos froze and listened. From downstairs they could hear a small “Oof!” but nothing more.

  
“Sorry dude.” Soos said, whether to Dipper or down to Bill was unclear.

  
“He fell through to downstairs!” Dipper exclaimed, jumping up and towards the door. “Soos! C’mon before he-“

  
“Wait dude.” Soos held up a calm hand, not yet moving from where he was on the floor. “What if he just got stuck in the floor boards while downstairs something just happen to fall on someone’s head at the exact same time?”

  
Soos let silence fill the air for pondering.

  
Then Gideon started screaming from the gift shop.

  
“Or not!” Soos said in the same optimistic tone before following Dipper down the stairs.

  
Thank god it was later in the day when the shop was empty of tourists otherwise Dipper would have had a heart attack. Of course he still came pretty close to having one as he stopped at the doorway to the gift shop.

  
“What in Heaven’s name has fallen into my hair??!!” Gideon screeched as he ran around in circles. His short arms having no luck reaching the triangle atop his hair. Bill all the while was halfway buried in the shiny white puff of hair with his own screams half-muffled and his one free arm and leg waving uselessly.

  
“Gideon! Stop moving!” Dipper directed as he came closer to try and help. But little good it did when he had to avoid Gideon’s flailing arms.

  
Gideon, in his fit of rage and panic, snapped at Dipper. “Don’t tell me what to do, Dipper Pines! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a horrible transgression?!”

  
“Transgression?” Dipper watched as Gideon’s eyes went wide when he heard Bill’s voice. “Man, you sound like you’re eighty! How old is this tiny baby?”

  
Gideon went nuts after that.

  
The next few minutes went something like this. Dipper trying to get Gideon to calm down while the well-suited boy was raging not only at the atrocity that had befallen his lovely hair but the fact of who was now in his lovely hair.

  
It only ended when Soos got in the mix.

  
“Soos to the rescue!” New Mr. Mystery exclaimed as he picked up Gideon by the back of his coat. The little boy’s flailing did nothing to faze Soos as he simply plucked Bill out of his hair.

  
“Oh!” Like a light, Gideon’s episode was gone as the obtrusion in his hair was removed. He went limp like a rag doll, obviously quick to exhaust after his fit. There was no struggle as Soos gently put him back down. Bill gave his own sigh of relief as Soos gently put him down next.

  
Gideon didn’t take his eyes off the triangle as he quickly fixed up his hair. He took no mind as the other’s in the room coughed as he took out his pocket sized hairspray and resprayed his hair as a final touch. By the end of it, Gideon’s hair was pristine and “perfect” while he stared, speechless and gaping, at Bill.

  
Finally, Gideon turned curtly to Dipper. “Dipper Pines, might I have a private word with you?”

  
It was said as a question, but really it was a demand.

  
Dipper left Soos to watch over Bill while he walked into the next room with Gideon.

  
“You seem to have quite the conundrum on your hands, boy.” Was the first thing Gideon said, not turning to Dipper as he suddenly seemed interested in one of the fake displays.

  
“You don’t know the half of it.” Dipper muttered, slightly wary of what Gideon would say next.

  
“Indeed.” Gideon’s voice was tart as he turned to face him. A small pudgy frown spread across his cheeks. “I don’t even know one third of what has transpired since your return to Gravity Falls. You have seen to that neither I, and many others, know what varmint you’ve concealed within the Mystery Shack.” At that Gideon’s frown turned almost remorseful as he sighed and bowed his head. “And I see that you still do not see myself fit to trust.” He raised his hand before Dipper could say anything. “Now, I’m not mad you’ve made the decision not to tell me. I truly do not blame you. I know it will take some time before I fully gain your trust.”

  
“With that all said.” He took a deep breath through the nose, folding his hands in front of his face. This appearance of calm quickly broke as Gideon Gleeful became bug eyed and flailed his arms, gesturing to the room where Soos as showing off the gift shop to Bill. “ **WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HECK HAVE YOU RAISED FROM THE DEAD, DIPPER PINES???** ”

  
Dipper sighed. This was going to take some careful explaining.

 

 

In the meantime…..

 

 

The glacier was deeper then Ford had expected. His melting gun hadn’t even gotten halfway through the ice when the sun began to set. Luckily, Ford had planned for this. After some fiddling from his pal Fiddleford, the Stan O’War II had a land mode. He simply had to activate the controls on his wrist watch and the boat was able to scale the sheer edge of the glacier on four robotic legs that folded out from the bottom of the boat. The way it climbed and walked was not unlike the goat that Stan kept in the Mystery Shack. The boat not sat on all fours, hooked tight to the surface of the glacier as the Stan twins readied to sleep for the night.

  
“Remind me why we risked our lives climbing a thousand-something foot high glacier instead of just taking the boat?” Stan grumbled, not for the fist or last time as he got beneath the blankets of his bunk.

  
Ford let his brother complain, on account that at the time he himself had been so excited he had completely forgotten about taking the boat and opted for climbing.

  
He climbed into his own bunk bellow Stanley’s, placing his glasses on the small window sill before reaching to turn the lights out.

  
“So, what are you hoping to find down there?” He heard Stan ask from his bunk as their small cabin went dark. “Maybe more alien hooey?”

  
“We’ll only know when my heat gun melts through the rest of the ice.” Was Ford’s answer. “This glacier is enormous, could very well be thousands of years old. There’s no telling what could be at the center of it.”

  
Stan hummed before changing to subject. “The kids should be at the shack by now. I bet you Dipper’s gonna tear apart your study.”

  
Ford actually laughed fondly. Of that he had no doubt. “And no doubt Mabel will be covering all your attractions in glitter. Wouldn’t surprise me if they took over the Mystery Shack.”

  
At that, Stan grumbled “There’ll be no living with them there after that.”

  
“Agreed.” Ford said solemnly.

  
A moment passed before the two grunkle broke out in a fit of laughter.

  
“Alright enough of that.” Stan’s laughter died down to a chuckle as he tunred over to sleep. “Goodnight, Sixer.”

  
“Goodnight, Stanley.” Ford smiled before shutting his eyes.

  
Whatever they found down there, without a doubt it would be one heck of a story to tell the kids when they got back.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next couple chapters will be covering some basic speal: what Bill can and can't do in his amnesiac state. Some more plot fun with the Stan Twins. AND MORE PEOPLE FREAKING OUT WHEN THEY LEARN WHAT'S IN THE ATTIC OF MYSTERY SHACK. GET READY FOR FUN AND WEIRDNESS.


End file.
